I found a thread from over a year ago about it - but no one posted a more thorough review.
I am about 300 pages into it (about 1/3 of the way) and really enjoying it – they haven’t even signed with George Martin this far in, but the pages turn easily. The narrative is confident without being intrusive – it feels “real” and plenty of stuff is happening to keep me engaged. It is well-paced, too – every few pages, the section or chapter ends with the obvious pseudo-cliffhanger of the type “…and that boy was George Harrison.” Where we all know the basic story but reading this way makes it fun. And there are enough new tidbits – much more about John’s upbringing and his first band, the Quarry Men; Paul’s jealousy of Stu Sutcliffe the Beatles’ original bassist and John’s close friend, etc.
All in all, it doesn’t hurt to be a Beatles’ geek, but it is by no means required – the book is a fun and interesting read regardless.
**fishbicycle **- you were skeptical about the book in that previous thread and indicated you had not heard of the author, which raised a flag for you. Did you read it? Bob Spitz was apparently involved in managing Bruce Springsteen and Elton John at various points and has been published in a lot of reputable magazines. And while I can’t vouch for the research at all, he has a strong, engaging writing style that is well-suited to the work so far…
I received this book for my birthday but have yet to start it. In fact, I forgot I had it. Thanks for the reminder! My friend read it and said it was the real McCoy. She loved it.
I really enjoyed this book. One reason (among many): It gives a good feeling for the motivation of the different people involved in the Beatles’ growth. That is, you really begin to understand what, say, a particular person at a particular record label has to do at his job, and why he chose to do one thing or another when first confronted with the Beatles.
When you learn about these sorts of things, you realize how their rise to fame (or at least the particular trajectory it took) was hardly inevitable. On page 441, for example, we hear about Brian Epstein’s visit to the U.S. in late 1963, where he found the Beatles to be unknown, and ignored by Capitol (EMI’s U.S. affiliate). If it weren’t for the initiative of EMI’s Len Wood, and Ed Sullivan’s taking a chance on a “hunch”, the Beatles (and, perhaps, the entire British invasion) may never have happened in America, at least not in the same way.
I found it was very detailed and painted a very vivid picture from about 1961 - 66, but after that it felt rushed and lacked that detail.
In the early chapters I felt like I was there. The later chapters I felt like somebody who was there was *telling *me about it (if that makes any sense).
Oh, that and I got the feeling Spitz hated Lennon, which rubbed me a little wrong at times.
RumMunkey - I can’t disagree with both your points but look at it this way: The early years as captured by Spitz are a masterpiece. I didn’t think that I would be that interested in post-war Liverpool and the Fab-Fours parents and grand-parents, but it was fascinating. I don’t have my copy handy, but I believe it’s more than half-way through before Beatlemania hits the States. The accounts of the remaining years fly by. He does focus in detail on a few famous episodes: the Imelda Marcos debacle in the Philippines comes to mind… great stuff!
Also, Paul is not positively portrayed: manipulating, controlling and a cold heartless bastard if he felt like it.